Madrid rallies past Gran Canaria on the road

In an all-Spanish showdown in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season, Real Madrid rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit to top Herbalife Gran Canaria 67-75 on the road on Tuesday. Madrid improved to 14-3 and remains second in the standings while Gran Canaria dropped to 6-11 and is 13th overall. Sergio Llull led the winners with 16 points. Rudy Fernandez added 11 while Anthony Randolph and Gustavo Ayon each had 10 for Madrid. Albert Oliver and Eulis Baez led Gran Canaria with 12 points apiece. Oriol Pauli added 11 for the hosts, who led 34-27 at halftime and kept a 56-52 margin after 30 minutes. Fernandez and Edy Tavares took over in the final quarter, allowing Madrid to add another win.

Randolph got Madrid going with a corner triple and Fabien Causeur added a driving layup for a 0-5 lead. Xavi Rabaseda scored twice off consecutive steals, igniting an 8-0 run that Oliver capped with free throws. Jeffery Taylor struck from downtown but Baez followed a three-point play with a power basket and fed Ondrej Balvin for a reverse layup, good for a 15-8 Gran Canaria lead. Randolph downed a basket and Llull followed a triple with a layup-plus-foul for a 15-16 Madrid lead after 10 minutes. A layup by Anzejs Pasecniks restored a 17-16 Gran Canaria lead early in the second quarter. Rudy Fernandez and Gustavo Ayon stepped up for Madrid but Pauli and Balvin helped Gran Canaria tie it at 21-21. Gabriel Deck answered with a backdoor layup but Marcus Eriksson hit a triple, Oliver added a finger-roll layup and a huge dunk by Rabaseda made Madrid call timeout at 28-25. Oliver ignited the crowd with a three-point play and a bomb from downtown to boost the hosts' lead to 34-27 at halftime. A driving layup by Pauli and an alley-oop dunk by Balvin made it a double-digit game, 38-28, soon after the break. Ayon and Randolph tried to change things for Madrid but an outstanding Pauli kept the hosts way ahead, 43-35. Pasecniks hit a triple and Pauli scored again but Llull struck twice from downtown to give Madrid hope at 48-42. Baez hit free throws but a 0-7 run that Llull capped with a huge three-pointer made Gran Canaria stop the game at 51-49. Eriksson answered from beyond the arc, helping Gran Canaria get a 56-52 margin after 30 minutes. Campazzo and Tavares scored around the basket to tie the game, 58-58, early in the fourth quarter. Baez hit free throws but a three-point play by Tavares completed Madrid's comeback, 60-61, with 6 minutes left. Oliver gave Gran Canaria its last lead, 62-61, as Fernandez hit free throws and added consecutive triples for a 63-69 Madrid margin with under 3 minutes left. A layup by Taylor allowed Madrid to keep a safe margin for good.

Pivotal performer

Llull had a really solid game, leading Madrid's third-quarter comeback. He finished the game with 16 points, 4 assists and a steal for a game-high PIR of 18.

Game-changing moment

Oliver hit free throws to give Gran Canaria its last lead, 62-61. Madrid found a go-to guy in Fernandez, who scored all points in a 1-8 run that dynamited the game, 63-69. Madrid kept its cool in the final 2 minutes and walked away with a win.

Stellar stat

Madrid picked up 12 turnovers in the first half, but just one in the second half and none in the final 18 minutes of the game. A better control on offense made the difference in a very defensive game.

Did you notice?

Speaking on turnovers, Gran Canaria only had 3 in this game. It is a new club record for lowest turnovers, by far - it previously had 7 against Buducnost VOLI Podgorica. It is also this season's record for least turnovers - AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan previous had 4 against Madrid. Neither Milan not Gran Canaria beat Madrid despite taking great care of the ball.

Next game:

Both teams return to action later on this week - Madrid hosts Olympiacos Pireaus on Thursday, January 10 at 21:00 CET. It is a rematch of the 1995, 2013 and 2015 EuroLeague Championship Games. Gran Canaria visits KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz on Friday, January 11 at 20:30 CET.

Head Coaches

GARCIA, VICTOR

Herbalife Gran Canaria

"Like we always say and like I told my players in the locker room, not everything is winning or losing. You have to read the game and take the good and bad things when you win or lose. I think we had a great effort during the whole game and did a lot of things tonight. We were able to compete throughout the whole game, had only 3 turnovers and 16 offensive rebounds. We did a lot of good things and were solid on defense especially. We know they are a really good team, but we didn't allow easy baskets. They did better in the second half and that made the difference in the game. Some of the turnovers Madrid had in the first half are because of our defense, some others were mistakes they made. Above all, we were just as solid as they were. In the second half, your physical level goes down because of the effort and I think that the difference was that they hit 4 of 5 three-point shots in the third quarter and found their scoring rhythm. We managed to compete until the end with bad shooting percentages. We found good shots and it is not easy against a team of this level, with so many physical players. I take a lot of positive things from this game in terms of effort and mentality."

LASO, PABLO

Real Madrid

"First, congratulations to my team for the victory. I think we started the game pretty well, but turned the ball over too much. We had 12 turnovers in the first half and you cannot win a game giving the ball away 12 times without even shooting. Easy fast breaks for them. The situation was that we were all the time behind them in the first half. I think that in the second half we were able to recover from that kind of situation. We didn't turn the ball over and had better decisions offensively. I'm happy for the turnaround in a game that we knew it was going to be difficult. We know that Gran Canaria is a very hard team, so this is a good victory for us – and we will play against Olympiacos in less than 48 hours. I believe that we started the game with many turnovers and that allowed Gran Canaria to grow in open court situations. In the second half, we turned that around; we made better decisions on offense, didn't turn the ball over and took extra passes. We had the control on offense even though it was not a great day for us on offense, partly due to Gran Canaria's defense. In the end, we were able to win the second half by 15 points, which says a good thing about the team."

Players

PAULI, ORIOL

Herbalife Gran Canaria

"Despite the loss, the team did many things well, especially on defense against a really great team like Real Madrid. On offense, we had only a few turnovers, too. We are upset because of the loss, but knowing the things we did well."

LLULL, SERGIO

Real Madrid

"I think we can play better, for sure, but it is an important win on the road. We know that it is difficult to take these kinds of wins, so we are happy. We come back to Madrid and are already focused on the game against Olympiacos."

FERNANDEZ, RUDY

Real Madrid

"It was an intense game on both sides of the court. We played very bad in the first half and maybe we changed our mentality in the second half, playing more aggressive. We probably improved in the second half on both sides of the court."